Thursday, June 22, 2017

Building a Suit for SDCC

It's nearly time for San Diego ComiCon, and I've been working diligently on my latest cosplay outfit for the Masquerade. Much like previous years, it's a SOOPER SEEKREET project, but I can give you details without giving away the surprise.

This costume is going to be a change for me, because unlike previous cosplay outfits, I will be able to wear this outfit on a regular basis, even for work. Additionally, I don't have to do a lot of extra custom work because I've already made parts of this outfit for other costumes, which means no unnecessary mockups and I just need to follow the pattern instructions and my own notes.

FIRST, the costume: The "costume" be a three-piece suit, which won't be quite matching in style, but I'll be using similar and matching fabric. Photos of the character seem to indicate this is the case.

SECOND, the patterns: As mentioned previously, I've already made much of this suit for other purposes, so I don't have to actually do much in terms of mockups, custom alterations, etc.  I will have to sew 1.5 items that I haven't created before, so there will be some work to do.


For the waistcoat, I've previously made the non-collared version of the pattern, but for this new one, I'll be adding the lapels. The only pattern I haven't yet made is a button-down shirt. I'm using this McCalls pattern for it.


LAST: the fabric! For this particular outfit, I'm going with a linen blend, because photos of said outfit appear to be linen. However, I chose a linen blend because I hate ironing linen --- it wrinkles if you look at it wrong.  Also, I'm choosing two different types of black linen because photos of said character show a slightly different texture/light reflection between the coat and pants.

For the jacket, I've chosen a black hopsack linen (55% linen / 45% rayon). Hopsack is a type of weave that looks like basket weave, and is not as "formal" as a plain weave. It's used for more "informal" blazers and jackets especially light summer blazers.

The next fabric is for the pants and waistcoat, which is a 53% linen / 47 % rayon, which I'll be using for the waistcoat and matching pants.

The last bit of fabric that I'm going to be using is for the shirt:


I've already washed it twice in hot water and it's turning into a very soft fabric and will make a lovely shirt.

MORE TO COME....

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